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MP Maurice Lake pulls Support from Current Coalition --- All MP’s have major issues with UP Leader Theo Heyliger.

style="text-align: center;">Prime Minister plans to dissolve Parliament early next week to stop formation of another Government. Reliable Sources.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Several fractures in the United Peoples Party/ De Weever/ Marlin- Romeo and US coalition seems to be beyond repair that Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs have decided that he will send a Landsbesluit to the Governor of St Read more

De Weever, Bosman face-to-face in court

   By Suzanne Koelega

THE HAGUE--In what can be called a historic case, Members of Parliament Cornelius de Weever of St. Maarten and André Bosman of the Netherlands faced each other in court on Friday on allegations of slander. De Weever took Bosman to court to have the latter retract his statements of bribery in a rectification in the newspapers.

Main reason for the court case, which took place in The Hague in De Weever's presence, was an article of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf published on September 29, 2014, headlined "Corrupt St Read more

De Weever wears bullet-proof vest after Bosman statement

THE HAGUE--Member of St. Maarten Parliament Cornelius de Weever (independent) took safety measures, which included wearing a bullet-proof vest, late 2014 following threats against his person when he left the Democratic Party (DP) in support of the United People's Party (UP).

This became clear during a court injunction in The Hague on Friday by De Weever against Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party Read more

Port St. Maarten receives best cruise port destination award

Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Claret Connor (left) receives a plaque from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. President and Chief Operations Officer Adam Goldstein (right).

 

POINTE BLANCHE--A top Port St. Maarten management and supervisory board of directors delegation will return on Friday after attending the 31st Cruise Shipping Miami 2015 with an award: Port St Read more

Zaandam, McKenzie-Tatem to sit in Statia Island Council

ST. EUSTATIUS--United People’s Coalition (UPC) leader Reginald Zaandam will sit in St. Eustatius’ new Island Council following Wednesday’s election. He will hold his party’s only seat. The other four seats in the council are shared equally by Progressive Labour Party (PLP) led by Clyde van Putten and Democratic Party (DP) St Read more

Suicide bombers kill 137 in Yemen mosque attacks

SANAA/ADEN--Suicide bombers killed at least 137 worshippers and wounded hundreds more during Friday prayers at two mosques in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, in coordinated attacks claimed by Islamic State.

The attacks on mosques used by supporters of the Shi'ite Muslim Houthi fighters who control the city were the deadliest in a years-long campaign of violence in the country, where Washington has been waging a drone air war against a local branch of the Sunni Muslim militant group al Qaeda Read more

Bonds of friendship formed through sports

~ Rotary Clubs reach out ~

By Tom Burnett

Five Rotarians from Canada are visiting St. Maarten and Anguilla for three weeks to support youth sports and life skills through sport. Lezlie Murch, Darren Luong, Jean Montgomery, Michael Hogg and Laura Chatterton, from Rotary District 7090 from the Ontario area, are volunteering their time on both islands and working with the local Rotary Clubs of District 7020.

The group is meeting with local youth sports organizations and school teachers Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- For the first time in St. Maarten an inter-island gymnastics competition was held on March 14, 2015 at Asha Stevens Gymnasium, presented by Club de Gym Saint Martin and National Institute of the Arts (NIA). Forty students under the age of twelve were judged by St. Maarten judges who were trained under Comité Régional of Guadeloupe (Gymnastics Local Committee of Guadeloupe) Read more

Editorial - Never a dull moment

Wednesday's Island Council elections in the Caribbean Netherlands produced some intriguing results. Especially Bonaire's three-way tie in seats caught the eye, but developments in St. Eustatius and Saba also were exciting, to say the least.

In Bonaire it looked for a long time as though PDB was headed for a solid victory and perhaps even a majority with five of nine seats, but newcomer MPB had a strong finish as the last voting districts were announced and miraculously won that race by 33 votes Read more

Safety measures for Saba volcano in place

THE HAGUE--Various safety measures have been taken to monitor the volcanic activity of Saba's Mount Scenery and to deal effectively with a possible disaster. A second and third seismic metre will be installed in June this year, as well as a Global Positioning System (GPS) later this year. A disaster management plan is in place and regular disaster exercises are held.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk stated this in response to written questions submitted by Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Wassila Hachchi of the Democratic Party D66 Read more

New fire station, control tower in Grand Case Airport plans

MARIGOT--A new fire station building and an extension to the control tower are among projects due to start this year at Grand Case Airport, falling within an approximate 4.5-million-euro budget for improvements that include renovation of the terminal building, the airport's Managing Director Mongi Djouba disclosed Thursday.

The fire station construction is expected to start at the end of April in the same location as the old premises. The control tower will be extended upwards close to 10 metres in height from the present four metres, giving controllers a higher and better view of aircraft movements.

Renovation work to the terminal building will start in phases some time in July for completion in June 2016.

"We will start with the management and administration offices, as that will not disrupt the passenger flow and processes of immigration, check-ins and security," Djouba explained Read more

Statia to get coalition govt. as no outright winner emerges

~ Two seats each for PLP, DP, one for UPC ~

ST. EUSTATIUS--St. Eustatius voters opted for a coalition government in Wednesday’s Island Council elections, as none of the six parties in the polls emerged with the needed three or more seats in the Island Council.

Talks about forming a coalition government are said to have commenced already among parties.

The Progressive Labour Party (PLP) led by Clyde van Putten captured two seats after receiving 481 votes, the most for any party Read more

More than 60 expect at NAGICO to NAGICO Cycle

PHILIPSBURG-- More than 60 riders including some children are registered to compete the third annual NAGICO to NAGICO (N2N) Cycling Race which starts this evening. There will be two races Saturday and a finale Sunday.

Thursday representatives from NAGICO Insurances, the title sponsor, in collaboration with the Velo Club de Grand Case (VCG) met with the police and Red Cross at the police station to go over the safety protocol and cycling route.

"Our highest priority at this time is the safety of our riders and road users during our NAGICO to NAGICO cycling races," said Lisa Brown Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---  The Parliament of Sint Maarten is now represented in the Standing Committee of Eurolat (European Union and the Parliament of Latin America - Parlatino), namely the Committee for Sustainable Development, the Environment, Energy Policy, Research, Innovation and Technology.

President of Parliament Hon. Dr. Lloyd Richardson, is currently in Panama attending the Directors meeting of Parlatino that started on Monday, and attended by the Vice Presidents of Parlatino where the parliamentary year plan of activities is compiled for the year (2014-2015).

President Richardson was invited to attend meetings of Eurolat, a meeting of representatives of parliaments from the European Union and Parlatino, which started on Tuesday and runs through Thursday.

A written request for the Parlatino floor sent on March 1, 2015, was given to Senator Angel Rodriquez, President of the Venezuelan Parliament, and Vice-President for Venezuela in Parlatino, to address the situation between Venezuela and the United States.

After a lengthy deliberation on the matter, an agreement on the resolution was sought from the member countries to, "reject the measures adopted by the government of United States, as being in flagrant contravention to the basic principles of international rights" etc.

The Dutch Caribbean countries with representatives at Parlatino namely, Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten, abstained from voting based on not having the legal authority to solely decide on matters of foreign affairs Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- MPs  Silveria Jacobs, Christopher Emmanuel, George Pantophlet and Johan Janchi Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Chuchubi Foundation events for Aruba Day (March 18th 2015) was termed a big success. The two- day event, started on March 17th 2015 with the launching of the book "Calypso and resistance in Aruba" by Mr. Gregory Richardson and the documentary film on "Mighty Lords, Kings and Queens - Calypso and the politics of recognition in Aruba" by Ms Read more

>NAGICO to NAGICO annual cycling race.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Thursday March 19th representatives from NAGICO N.V., representatives from Sint Maarten/Sint Martin Cyclers Club Association and the Police Department held their final meeting for this upcoming weekend Third Annual NAGICO to NAGICO cycling competition Read more

Chuchubi Foundation Events Termed A Success

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Chuchubi Foundation events for Aruba Day (March 18th 2015) was termed a big success.

The two- day event, started on March 17th 2015 with the launching of the book "Calypso and resistance in Aruba" by Mr. Gregory Richardson and the documentary film on "Mighty Lords, Kings and Queens - Calypso and the politics of recognition in Aruba" by Ms Read more

Elections Concluded On Bes Islands

BES Islands - The PLP Party of Clyde van Putten is in a celebratory mood, as the won two seats during the Island Council elections on Wednesday.

Also celebrating is the Democratic Party of Adelka Spanner.

They too won 2 seats, while the UPC was able to recapture its one seat in the island council of St Read more

Editorial: Creating Jobs

Members of Parliament love talking about creating jobs for the people. The latest cry is coming from MP Maurice Lake, the former Minister of Vromi, who urges the government to create work for local contractors.

It sounds sympathetic – no question about it – but when governments create work they are most likely whipping up jobs out of thin air that do not really exist Read more

Marlin-Romeo Calls For Establishment Of Consumer Protection Agency

St. Maarten —The time has come for the establishment of a Consumer Protection Agency locally, independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo opined yesterday, pointing out that consumer protection laws exists locally but there is no body to execute such laws.

The MP noted that statistics continue to show that the island is still considered and favoured as the duty free shopping hub of the Caribbean Read more

Up Mp Lake Calls On Up Lead Government To Make Job Creation A Priority

St. Maarten –  “It is high time that Government and Parliament start empowering our local people to be tops where it concerns jobs and other relevant areas in the country,” UP MP and former Vromi Minister Maurice Lake said yesterday while contending that since his tenure as Vromi Minister not much is happening within the districts.

The UP MP has issued a call to the UP lead government to make use of local contractors in the various districts when it comes to district community improvement Read more

Minister Connor Stresses Importance Of Tourism To Mac 3Rd Graders

St. Maarten – Minister of TEATT Claret Connor visited the Methodist Agogic Center (MAC), St. John’s Campus and spoke to the 3rd grade students of campus 1 & 2 about tourism and how it affects their lives.

The visit is in keeping with the Ministry’s vision to create greater awareness and understanding about the industry and the importance to the economy and by extension, the citizens of this country Read more

Na Mp Pantophlet Seeks Clarity On Internal Control Department

St. Maarten – Member of Parliament George Pantophlet disclosed yesterday that he will be submitting some questions to Minister of Finance Martin Hassink regarding the setting up of an internal control department. Pantophlet also plans to request a copy of an agreement signed between the SOAB and government. “This agreement apparently has in it that the SOAB would set up the internal control department within 2 years, write the internal control process and also train the employees Read more